New 180 gallon leds or MH

[joshbbert]

I've used MH in horticulture and the heat from h.I.d. lamps is a constant issue idk how peeps use them over a reef not to mention each one of those fixtures is going to be in the neighborhood of 40,000 lumens each! You can grow a tree with that haha or a lot of algea son

 

[Shep]

So MH, T5 and LED will grow coral and all of them will keep your corals nice and colorful. What it comes down to is which set of pros and cons are you most ok with. IMHO you can't really go "wrong" with any of these three options. With that being siad I think LED are the best because they have most pros with the fewest cons.

 

[joshbbert]

And on a side note for those concerned with your electric bill, 3 400w mh @458w's per light is 1,374 watts that's 1.3 kilowatts. If you average 10 hours a day with lights on that's 2,500 hours a year per light. So 1.37Kw × 7,500hours is 10,305kw per year so if your being charged 1 cent for every kW used, some pay much more, that's 1,030$ a year! That's almost 3$ a day....no thanks that's why most indoor horticulturist are moving away from hid lamps and moving to led as more powerful lights become available technology just isn't quite there yet

 

[4FordFamily]

I have three chinese (Aquastar or aquamax or something) black LED boxes. They're great. Only 100 each shipped. You can control blues/greens/purples separately from whites/reds so you can effectively change the color temperature and intensity of total light. They are every bit as good as the $2000 set of reefbrite LED's I bought three years ago for my other 180. (More controllable too)

You live and learn.

 

[Chriscrna]

Sell the chiller. LED's all the way. I have a mixed reef from A to Z (Acros to Zoas) under Ocean Revives and everything grows like weeds. Color spectrum is phenomenal and there is no heat transfer. My corals are as bright and colorful as corals can be.

Now, keep in mind that there is a lot more to it than just lighting...ion concentration, husbandry habits, etc and so forth. But, IMO, LED's are great.

 

[Coydawg6]

Looks like I will be trying to sell the MH and chiller to get me some LEDs. I just love how the LEDs look and they have to be some what quiter than these!

 

[4FordFamily]

Looks like I will be trying to sell the MH and chiller to get me some LEDs. I just love how the LEDs look and they have to be some what quiter than these!

Yes, as was previously mentioned, they are quieter, draw less power, and generate far less heat. Basically, LED or die! :)

 

[joshbbert]

Yes, as was previously mentioned, they are quieter, draw less power, and generate far less heat. Basically, LED or die! :)

+1 and that's coming from a metal halide lover just not efficient enough

 

[reefjunkie53]

Yea I have the cheap full spectrum LEDs off ebay about 100 dollars each and I have had them running a year and a half and I just love them the colors I get are amazing my sps are growing amazing well all my corals are but u guys no how picky acros can be Lol plus I love the shimmer affect u get from them that u will not get from t5

 

[Coydawg6]

Well any suggestions?! And anyone looking to buy

 

[reefjunkie53]

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=131261397845

 

[reefjunkie53]

Right here u would need 3 to go over your 180

 

[reefjunkie53]

U have to be careful they are powerful you will bleach your coral with them if not acclimated for a cheap led they put out lots of par[emoji3]

 

[reefjunkie53]

I just could not afford 3000 in LEDs at the moment and I've watched tons of YouTube reviews on these and people love them great colors and growth

 

[Coydawg6]

I'm now selling these and going with those! Just seen some in person!

 

[joshbbert]

Yea I have the cheap full spectrum LEDs off ebay about 100 dollars each and I have had them running a year and a half and I just love them the colors I get are amazing my sps are growing amazing well all my corals are but u guys no how picky acros can be Lol plus I love the shimmer affect u get from them that u will not get from t5

Loved my little aquamana China led it was ugly but it did work on my corals

 

[hart24601]

Wow, those are pretty nice for the money. I would want some near UV in there, but for that price it's hard to argue.